SUMMARY
The ELN, (Ejército de Liberación Nacional, the National Liberation Army) is Colombia’s oldest active guerrilla group and the last insurgency with a national political agenda. Since its founding in 1964, it has evolved from a Marxist-Leninist and liberation theology-inspired movement into a decentralized armed organization deeply involved in criminal economies. Over the decades, the ELN has survived military defeats, internal divisions, and territorial disputes with other armed groups. It consolidated a cross-border presence in Venezuela, strengthening its influence and expanding its illicit activities. Despite participating in several peace negotiations over the years, the most substantive process began in 2022 under President Gustavo Petro. However, this process faced severe internal tensions, particularly following the government's separate dialogue with the ELN’s Comuneros del Sur faction in Nariño department. Talks formally broke down in September 2024 after a deadly ELN attack on a military base in Arauca department, leaving the future of the process uncertain.
The ELN was founded in the department of Santander by a group of students, intellectuals, and Catholic priests inspired by the Cuban revolution and Latin American liberation theology. Initially focused on attacking state institutions and oil infrastructure, the ELN financed its operations through kidnappings and extortion. During the 1980s and 1990s, it expanded into the oil-producing regions of Arauca and Casanare, where it systematically extorted multinational companies. Over time, the ELN began taxing coca growers and eventually became directly involved in drug trafficking, illegal mining, and cross-border smuggling, particularly along the Colombia-Venezuela frontier. Its decentralized, federated structure granted autonomy to its regional fronts, making the group difficult to control and presenting challenges for any unified negotiation. As of 2024, the ELN was led by Eliécer Chamorro, alias Antonio García, supported by Israel Ramírez Pineda, alias Pablo Beltrán, the group’s political leader and chief negotiator.
Operating on both sides of the Colombia-Venezuela border, the ELN has expanded its influence in multiple regions across both countries. This expansion brought the group into conflict with the Colombian government, the EGC, and various FARC dissident factions. It clashed with FARC-EMC in Arauca and Apure, while maintaining non-aggression pacts and a tactical alliance with FARC-EMC Calarcá in Norte de Santander and Antioquia to confront the EGC. In Venezuela, the ELN reportedly acted as an informal ally of the government of Nicolás Maduro, benefiting from territorial control and access to illicit economies such as mining, drug trafficking, and contraband.
Several Colombian governments have attempted to negotiate peace with the ELN, with talks taking place intermittently since the 1970s. While all previous processes failed to produce lasting agreements, the negotiations initiated in 2022 under President Gustavo Petro represented the most significant progress to date. These talks included multiple rounds in Venezuela, Mexico, and Cuba and achieved a bilateral ceasefire that lasted from August 2023 to August 2024. However, the process faced growing internal tensions, particularly after the government opened parallel talks with the ELN’s breakaway Comuneros del Sur faction in Nariño. Disagreements over the group’s internal cohesion, the government’s engagement with splinter factions, and continued ELN kidnappings eventually led to the suspension of the ceasefire and the official breakdown of negotiations in September 2024, following a lethal ELN attack on a military base in Arauca.
ELN has been involved in the intrastate, non-state, and one-sided categories of UCDP organized violence.
